Pathogen
by TheSamSam
Summary: Sestiva thinks training on skull island is slow, and takes matters into her own hands. She moves away to Valencia, and creates something new. A weapon of destruction.
1. Chapter 1

**Pathogen**

**A Pirate101 fanfiction**

**Summary: Sestiva thinks training on skull island is slow, and takes matters into her own hands. She moves away to Valencia, and creates something new. A weapon of destruction.**

**Author's Note: This is not a by-the-game plot. This is also my first fanfic. Thanks to my sister SevarinadeStrango who helped me out with this.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pirate101. The plot and the OCs are mine.**

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**Chapter 1: Basic Training**

The young witchdoctor Sestiva Zipman casted the Juju spell with ease. She wasn't even supposed to learn it yet, but the spells before that were so easy for her, Madame Vadima started teaching her the higher level spells.

"Can I start learning Soulreaver and Vultures Gift?" Sestiva asked Vadima.

"We don't want to rush it." Vadima replied. "Today's training session is over. I'll think about it and tell you tomorrow during training."

"Okay…" she said reluctantly.

Sestiva met up with her musketeer sister Helen Zipman in front of the life fountain in Avery's Court. Helen has just finished a "difficult" training session as well.

"How was training?" Helen asked.

"You know how it is. It's the same every time. Boring. The rest of the class is being held back all because of this one kid who can't cast the Juju spell." Sestiva said, clearly irritated.

"All we did was learn how the Sparquebus worked."

Sestiva and Helen went back to the small building that they owned and started talking about their training.

"Training is really easy. We just practice casting spells and make potions. We don't even have difficult training. You have to adjust your hand position and stuff. It's way harder than the witchdoctor stuff I'm doing!" Sestiva complained and put her hands on her hips.

"Our training is easier than you think. All you need is the hand position for the different types of guns. If you want hard training try being a swashbuckler." Helen replies.

"We're progressing too slowly. I want to go faster. " Sestiva declares.

"Just be patient." Helen says.

"I _can't _be patient! I've been doing the same thing for too long!" Sestiva exclaimed and threw her staff to the ground.

"Don't do that!" Helen says and picks Sestiva's staff up. "Be careful with your possessions! Maybe the resistance wants us to move at this pace for a reason."

"And what is that reason?"

"Maybe the resistance wants us to fully understand the concept."

"I do understand the concept!"

"Well then show me!" Helen said, pulling her fingers through her short, brown hair.

Sestiva began casting her spell. The light from the Juju spell reflected off her bright blue eyes. Just as she was about to execute the spell flawlessly, she backed up to give room for the spell, but tripped over the table in the middle of the room and fell flat on her back!

"See? You obviously don't understand the concept! You need to practice more!" Helen said sternly, and turned her back towards Sestiva.

"But I _do_ understand…"

"Well clearly you don't. It's because of people like you always rushing, that we have to take it slow!"

Sestiva went to her room and shut the door.

_I don't rush. Well, maybe I go a bit fast, _she thought, placing her staff on her bed. Sestiva looked out the window and flipped her red hair.

_Well, if Helen says I'm rushing…_

_No! _She stopped herself, _What would she know, being such a boring person? Everything about her is boring. She doesn't like to take risks, she doesn't like to have fun, she doesn't talk to people, her personality is boring!_

Helen _was_ boring. Her eyes and hair were a dull brown compared to the bright colors that Sestiva had. Helen only wore a dull, dead, dark blue. Nothing else. Sestiva on the other hand wore a variety of colors like orange, blue, and green. Sestiva wore rich colors, but would not wear a dull, dead, dark blue. The only good thing about Helen was that she was smart. Very smart. Helen could see opportunities and chances that others didn't see by remaining calm and making the best decisions.

She picked up her staff and performed the Juju spells perfectly. She did it perfectly again and again and again. _Hey. I got this. Wait a minute. If it worked these times that I did it, why didn't it work when I showed her? It must have been when I backed up into the coffee table. That's when the spell went wrong._

Sestiva took her staff, opened the door and went to see Helen. Helen of course being as boring as she is was sitting on the couch doing nothing.

"Helen!" Sestiva called, trying to get her attention.

"What do you want?" She replied. "I thought I told you to go practice your Juju spells."

"You did. I practiced like you said."

"Do you fully understand the concept now?"

"I knew the concept, I just backed up into the table to make room and fell."

"Then show me. Prove to me that you know the concept."

Sestiva cast the Juju spell and stood towards the corner of the room where there was room. The spell was executed flawlessly, just like she practiced in her room.

"What happened during training? Did anything go wrong with your spell?" Asked Helen.

"Nothing really. We just practiced the Juju over and over. It was partly the other kid who couldn't cast anything's fault. He kept messing up so we had to keep going till everyone got it. By the way that took forever." Replied Sestiva.

"So you did practice a lot. That explains why you mastered it on your third day training it."

"What do you mean?"

"Lots of witchdoctors get it on their fourth day. Not the third. So in a way, you are a fast learner."

"Maybe. Maybe I would have learned it sooner if that kid could actually cast something."

_KNOCK! KNOCK!_

Sestiva answered the door. It was Vadima. Why would she personally come and visit her house, and not just simply send her a letter?

"Yes?" answered Sestiva.

"There will be no training tomorrow." Vadima Said sternly.

"Why?"

"There is an emergency down in Mooshu. I will take all day to get there. All the trainers are leaving tonight. We arrive in Mooshu tomorrow morning."

"Okay…" She said, smiling awkwardly as Vadima left. Once she closed the door, the red- haired witchdoctor fist pumped the air.

There would be no training tomorrow, which meant she could _finally_ get some sleep.

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**Please review! I am trying to become a better writer so advice would be greatly appreciated :D**

** - Sam**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: "Complete Boredom"**

Sestiva woke up that morning with happy thoughts about not having any training. She _finally_ got a day off from what she said was sheer annoyance.

"Morning, Sestiva." Helen said happily. "You should go practice your spells outside by the water near the docks."

"No." The red-haired witchdoctor replied.

"Why not?"

"I don't feel like it, that's why."

"How are you going to be a better witchdoctor if you don't practice? This tells me you aren't dedicated to what you're doing."

"I _am_ dedicated, thank you. And if you excuse me, I will go practice somewhere else."

"Where might that be?"

"I'm not telling you."

_Why is Sestiva being so stubborn? She's never acted that way. If she's going to be a better witchdoctor, then she must practice. She refuses to practice. I will force her to practice and do a training session with me. I just have to follow her around without being seen. Then I'll find out where she's practicing and wait there when she takes a break._

Sestiva left the small building and went to the other side of the island. She didn't notice Helen quietly following her from a distance. Helen followed Sestiva up a steep hill and into a cave. The entrance was covered with vines. That's probably why no one came here. There was a space about twice as big as their small building.

Sestiva let her staff lean against the wall and walked down a narrow corridor. If she left her staff there, she obviously would come back. Helen walked to the center of the room and waited for the witchdoctor to return.

Sestiva glanced around the potions room at the end of the narrow corridor. They were all basic potions that she had made during class. The witchdoctor went there every day to put more in there. There were a total of one-hundred and ten potions. Most of them were potions of minor healing. The easiest one to make.

"Time to start practicing." The witchdoctor said to herself. She went back to the gigantic room to retrieve her staff and start practicing. She found Helen standing in the center of her practice space.

"Training starts now." Helen said loudly as she fired a bullet into the wall.

"Why are you here?" asked the witchdoctor and scowled.

"To train you, of course. Why else would I come?"

"To lecture me about practicing." Sestiva snapped. "How did you know I practice here?"

"I followed you. If you had any sense of awareness at all, you would have felt like you were being followed and noticed me." Helen snapped back. "You are going to train with me, and there is no leaving this room without my permission! This is what happens when you refuse to practice!"

"There is nothing for me to practice! I already know all the spells I'm supposed to learn by now."

"Then practice more." Helen said sternly, loading her rifle.

"I've practiced enough!"

"There is never enough practice!"

"Okay, fine. I get it."

"We're working on your accuracy first." Helen said. She picked up a stone randomly as she was walking to one side of the room and drew a target on the ground. "Hit this with your Ghostwail."

The red-haired witchdoctor went straight to work. She waved her staff around as the magic circle appeared around her feet. She executed the spell with a jolt of her staff. The spell did not hit the target. Instead, the spell landed about a foot away.

"Again." Helen ordered. "Keep your eye on the target."

Sestiva did it again. This time only missing by several inches. Each time improved slightly. The witchdoctor cast Ghostwail one last time, hitting the target and leaving a scorch mark in the center.

"Good. That's enough with today's training. I strongly suggest that you go to the brawling hall to strengthen your attacks."

Sestiva sprinted out of the cave to the brawling hall, excited for her first one on one match. There was lots of people to battle. Everyone either looked too powerful or too weak. Except for one swashbuckler named Abigail Emmet. She looked equally strong at Sestiva was.

"Abigail!" Sestiva called and grinned. "Do you want to battle with me?"

"Sure." Abigail replied softly.

The two of them stood on the separate sigils and 3…2…1…the battle began. Sestiva knew that swashbucklers were close rangers. She obviously had the advantage in that battle. Vadima had taught her that in each battle, she had to have a strategy. She had to make assumptions on what her opponents move will be. Sestiva decided she had to make sure she didn't get too close. Keep moving away from her while launching long ranged and sometimes infinite raged attacks.

Abigail raced towards the witchdoctor, knives in position for jabbing. She was fast, maybe too fast. If she was going fast, Sestiva had to act fast. She quickly cast a Hoodoo Touch, draining about one fifth of her health. Abigail fell to the floor and tried to pick herself up, but Sestiva cast another Hoodoo Touch, this time draining three fifths of her health.

"_That was a massive increase of damage"._ Sestiva thought to herself. "_Maybe a Ghostwail should finish her off."_

The second after the witchdoctor thought about it, she did it. She cast a Ghostwail. She waved her staff around and the Magic circle appeared around her feet. She glued her eyes on Abigail Emmet and executed the spell with a jolt of her staff. Success. Her health was completely drained. Abigail collapsed on the ground.

Abigail drank a potion and restored her health.

"Good match." Abigail said, congratulating Sestiva on her victory.

"Thanks!" Sestiva said, excited to tell Helen the good news.

Sestiva raced back to their small building and burst through the door.

"I won!" Sestiva said loudly. "My attacks got three times stronger too!"

"Congratulations on your victory!" Helen rejoiced.

"I really appreciate your help with my spells. We should do this another time when I have no training!"

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**Please review. Advice would be greatly appreciated.**

**-TheSamSam**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Helen's Weapons**

The sun was shining through Helen's window that morning when she woke up. She went to go find Helen to see what she was doing. If she wasn't doing anything, then Sestiva could do another training session with her. Her staff that she left on the table yesterday was gone. The only things on that table were guns. And behind that, Helen.

"Helen!" Sestiva snapped. "What did you do with my staff?"

"It's right here." She said, looking behind her and handing the staff to Sestiva.

"Why so many guns?" Sestiva asked.

"I collect them."

"What kind is that one?" Sestiva asked, pointing to a rifle lined in silver.

"That is an armada rifle. It's also called sparquebus. It shoots electricity and is very lightweight since it was made for the armada."

"What about that one?" The red-haired witchdoctor asked, looking at a pistol with lots of gears.

"That's an Armada Pistol. It also shoots electricity and is very lightweight."

"How do you use a gun?"

"Simple. You put your left index finger on the trigger and wrap your other fingers around the back of the gun. Then, use your right hand and put it close to the barrel."

"Can I shoot it?"

"Just go outside and do it. We don't want a hole in the wall."

Sestiva gladly stepped outside. She couldn't just practice outside the building. She had to practice in her cave, where her training had taken place last time. She scurried up the steep hill and through the vine covered entrance.

"Sestiva!" Helen called. "You can't start using guns without the guns."

"Oops, sorry."

"Okay. Do you remember how you hold the guns properly?"

"Yes. I do."

"You've got that down. Next step is the stance. Feet apart, one foot slightly behind the other, and pull the trigger!"

Sestiva did exactly as she was told and pulled the trigger. It did not work out how she planned it. Helen had forgotten to mention the recoil. The gun flew out of her hands, knocking the witchdoctor backward, and fell onto the stone a few feet away.

"Good for a first try."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, even though you only are supposed to use staffs. Now you need to know how to load guns."

Learning how to shoot a gun was complicated enough. Now she had to learn to load a gun. The thought of loading a gun seemed easy. Now she had to get the materials needed to load it. Helen set the loading materials on the table. Much more complicated then she thought. All the different powders, rods, and charges were making her head spin.

"Can I step outside for a moment?" Sestiva asked.

"Sure. Take all the time you need." Helen said.

Sestiva stepped out into the light of day. The things Helen had taught were just too complicated for her. But she wanted to make her sister happy by learning how to shoot and load guns. Why couldn't everything be as simple as the witchdoctor class? Maybe even as simple as the buccaneer class. She wasn't just going to tell Helen that. First, that will mean all that time learning was wasted. Better be learning something new with that time instead of wasting it.

Sestiva thought long and hard about her decision. Was she going to stop learning or do something of value? She wasn't really sure. She wanted to do both. Regardless, she didn't want to waste her and her sister's precious time. Sestiva took a deep breath, stood up, and went back inside the cave. Back in the darkness, Helen was waiting for her.

Helen looked up in the middle of assembling a Sparquebus.

"Back already? We can resume learning about guns if you want." She said, ready to start with her hands already on her rifle.

"Sure. Let's resume the lessons!" She said with excitement.

"Do you remember where we left off?"

"Yes, but I was wondering if you could make the instructions a bit simpler?"

"No problem."

Helen explained how the guns worked again. Using charges as ammo and launching it outward at a high velocity. She explained the stance and the hand positions.

"I get it now." The witchdoctor said.

"Try shooting." Helen ordered.

The red-haired witchdoctor pulled the trigger and braced herself for the recoil. Once again, the gun flew out of her hands and landed on the stone floor a few feet away. Sestiva sighed helplessly. She just couldn't keep the gun in her hands after she fired the gun. She has watched plenty of musketeers do it with such ease.

"After you fire, the gun jerks backward. Let it fly up for a second and immediately pull it back into your hands." Helen commanded.

"Got it!" The witchdoctor said.

Sestiva fired the gun again, not bracing for the recoil. She let the gun fly up, still holding it with both hands, and brought it back down. Success. Sestiva had shot her first gun perfectly.

"You did it!" Helen exclaimed. "Now let's work on your accuracy with this kind of weapon."

Helen walked to the other side of the room where the target on the ground was marked from her witchdoctor training. Helen picked up a rock and drew a target on the wall this time.

"Just like your witchdoctor training yesterday. Aim at the target, and keep your eye on it. Don't look down at your gun or you'll miss."

Sestiva never took her eyes off the target. Once again pulling the trigger and hitting the target straight on. The charge left a web like burn on the wall.

"Wow. That was pretty powerful. Is that considered powerful considering that I'm a witchdoctor?" Sestiva asked.

"Actually, yes. Most pirates choose a secondary class to learn from, but usually not another long ranged class." Helen laughed.

"I really enjoy your help, and your lessons. I want to do this more often so I can become better! Can you help me?"

"Sure, I'd be happy to help you out!"

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**Please review! Advice and criticism are greatly appreciated. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Experiments

The witchdoctor slowly opened her building door in the middle of the night. She stepped onto the cool sand, making sure she made no noise. Sestiva crept behind buildings and hid in the shadows. A cool breeze blew through her red hair as she silently made her way to Avery's Court. It was easy to sneak around at night, considering that there was no late night patrol like other places had. Occasionally, a creature of some sort would step into the moonlight and slink back to where it came from. She had made it. She stood in front of the Witchdoctor's Sanctum for a minute, and then went inside.

It was warmer inside the Witchdoctor's Sanctum. There were embroidered pillows scattered on the floor. Potion shelves lined the walls. The shelves were quite full. There was not a single space left. Since there was no space, Sestiva would have to replace all the potions she took with her own. She quietly went back to her small building, opened the door slowly, and grabbed a leather bag to put the potions in. She silently shut the door and skittered back to the Sanctum. The red-haired witchdoctor grabbed a few potions from the lower shelf and put them into their bag.

Sestiva came out of the Sanctum and started off to her cave. She struggled to climb up the steep hill due to the extra weight from the potions. After coming through the vine covered entrance, she carefully placed down the bag, and went down the narrow corridor to her potion room. The witchdoctor grabbed more than what she needed. She came back down the corridor, hands full of potions. She placed the potions down, opened the bag, and got out Vadima's potions.

She carefully poured a little bit of Vadima's potion into hers, that way they could be the same color and Vadima wouldn't notice. Sestiva ran back to the Sanctum, put _her_ potions on the shelf, and came back to the cave. Sestiva retrieved some more of her potions from the back, and was ready to begin. She opened a green colored potion and a pink potion and poured a little bit into one of hers. The moment they merged with the other fluid, there was a shower of sparks and a small inferno came up and out the top of the potion bottle.

"Oh my God – IT'S ON FIRE!" Sestiva screamed nearly dropping the bottle and jammed a cork in the opening, and set is aside. She went ahead and grabbed for the next bottle. "Ow! Crap. The flesh on my hands is gone! It stings! It burns! What am I going to do? Oh, crap. What if Helen finds out?" Sestiva thought for a second. She had to go back to the small building and bandage them.

Once again, she ran down to the small building grabbed some bandages and came back up. Sestiva winced in pain as sand landed on the burn and the burn rubbing against the bandages. She bandaged her hands and went right back to work.

This time she mixed a blue and red colored potion with another one of hers. She was about to pour some of It in when Sestiva stopped herself.

"I shall not burn my flesh off again. I do not want it to explode in my face either." Sestiva said to herself.

The liquids merged and I gave off a huge amount of light. Sestiva put a cork in the opening as fast as she could, trapping whatever was in there. The light died down, and Sestiva looked closer to see what was inside it. It looked like a stationary orange cloud giving off light.

"It's a gas? Why would a gas give off light?"

Sestiva set that potion aside with the other one. She brought out an orange and a yellow colored potion. The liquids merged again and ice started forming and rising continuously out the top.

"This could be really useful."

Her hands still burned from the inferno. She broke off some of the ice coming out the top and let it melt in her hands. It felt a whole lot better than having to work all day with burnt hands.

_This will be the last one._ Sestiva thought.

She grabbed a purple and a grey and combined them with hers. The new creation spouted smoke and the rest of the liquid boiled in the bottle. Sestiva coughed for a while then, put a cork in the top of the bottle and put it aside with the others.

"So, I got one that is an inferno, one that was a cloud of gas that produces light, one that produces never-ending ice, and one that produces unlimited smoke."

She thought about telling Helen about her new potions, but she knew she would get mad at her.

Helen set that thought aside, and brought her potions to the back. Helen would get suspicious if she saw abnormal potions, and question her, so she had to put the potions somewhere she wouldn't find them.

_I could possibly put them in the back of the shelves, but she would be able to see the difference in potions. What if I hid them? I'll hollow out some of the wall, and hide them there!_

Sestiva looked around for a bit. She needed something sharp, like a knife. There was a knife sitting on one of the lower shelves. She picked it up, and started pounding the wall with its sharp side. At first, it was only scratches, then it cut deeper and deeper into the rock. As soon as she cut all the way through where she wanted to be, she started hollowing out the dirt behind it, making it rectangular. She scraped the remaining dirt off the rock, and put the potions in. The witchdoctor also made sure it was behind one of the shelves so it wouldn't be obvious. She gently put the rock back in place. She came out of the corridor. A voice disturbed the silence.

"What happened to your hands?" Helen questioned, giving the witchdoctor a look of suspicion.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for any technical difficulties earlier this morning D: For some reason had decided to post about 300 words of this instead of the whole thing.**

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**Chapter 5: The Lecture**

_Where did she go? _Helen thought, blocking the morning sun with her right hand. _She wasn't in t our building when I woke up._

Helen raced around the house, looking in every corner for her sister. She couldn't possibly be playing tricks on her, with an exception of hiding somewhere in Skull Island. Helen repeated that in her head multiple times until she realized that she _was_ hiding somewhere in Skull Island.

Helen started looking in Avery's court, where she could be making potions in the Witchdoctor's Sanctum. She wasn't there. She searches around the docks, and the ships docked there. Not there either. The Musketeer searched everywhere, but Sestiva was nowhere to be found.

_Where could she possibly have gone? She must be in her cave._

Helen struggled up to the top of the steep, sandy hill, and burst into the cave entrance. Sestiva had passed out in a corner with her staff in one hand. Helen comes a little closer, just enough to be able to see the bandages on Sestiva's hands.

_What happened?_ Helen thought, getting even closer. She too, wrapped her hand around the long staff. The staff was ice cold. Weird, considering it's in a warm room. Helen let go of the staff, and touched her sister's other hand.

The witchdoctor smacked the side of her staff into Helen's side. It knocked the air right out of her lungs. Helen grunted and leaned against the wall for support and to regain her air. Sestiva's eyes shot open and got ready for another attack.

"Stop! It's just me." Helen said, panicking a little.

"Define _me_." Sestiva said, not stopping in the almost pitch black room. She jumped back and cast Ghostwail.

Helen tried to dodge the spell, but the Ghostwail followed her. She remembered she wasn't able to dodge spells and stopped running. The Ghostwail caught up to her and started to do damage. Helen screamed in pain as the ghosts tore at her flesh. It took away one fifth of her health, not bad. After the spell died down, Helen collapsed on the rocky floor, then leaning on the wall for support.

"Helen?" Sestiva asked.

"What happened to your hands?" Helen demanded.

"I was…experimenting with potions…and I was burnt by a small inferno."

"What kind of potion would you have that can be mixed and cause a small inferno?"

"I…stole from Va-" Sestiva said, but got cut off by Helen.

"You stole from Vadima?!" Helen yelled angrily.

"I put some of mine in its place so she wouldn't notice when she returns."

"I don't care what you replaced her potions with! What did she ever do to you?"

"Noth-"Sestiva was cut off again by Helen.

"I don't want to hear it! You should never steal from anyone, understand? You don't even know what could happen to you if you get caught! Stealing is idiotic, am I clear? You can always ask Vadima to use some of _her_ potions. She can always make more. You can ask when she returns. Even if she never comes back, you will not steal. If I _ever_ find out that you stole something again, you will train with me for a whole entire month."

"Ok."

"Why did you steal in the first place?"

"I knew nothing would happen if I combined any of my potions, so I became curious and took some of Vadima's potions."

"Alright then. I'll make you a deal. You can take a few more potions, but when Vadima comes back, you have to explain what happened and show them to her."

"Thank you, Helen."

"Don't get too excited, if you're caught, I won't let you take anything from Vadima again."

"Ok! Can I show them to you?"

"Sure!"

Sestiva led Helen through the narrow corridor and into the back room, pushed the stone in front of the hollow space, and brought out the new potions.

"I'm guessing that one is the one that burnt your hands?" Helen asked, pointing at an orange potion with trapped fire inside.

"Yeah, it's this one."

Helen looked at the icy-blue one with ice trying to escape through the top. She opened it, and snapped off some ice. It melted in her hand, like normal ice would.

"This is really cool!" Helen exclaimed.

The Witchdoctor didn't reply, she knew none of the potions could do any damage at all, except for the one with the inferno.

"What if I made a potion that did damage, just in case there is an attack on Skull Island?" Sestiva asked, hoping that her sister would have a good opinion on it.

"That would be nice."

Helen caught a glance of the potion that produced light. It was a little odd. She turned the potion bottle around to get a look at all angles, trying to see the details.

"Sestiva, how did you make this?" Helen asked, eager to know what Sestiva was going to say.

"Just combining the different potions I took with my own. Why'd you ask?"

"I've never seen these kinds of potions in my whole life! This is amazing, considering that you're only a beginner level witchdoctor."

"I need to put these back now."

The witchdoctor and the musketeer walked to the potion room in the back, and the witchdoctor pushed the piece of wall that was covering the hollow space. Sestiva gently put the potions back in the hollow space, but for some reason Helen brought them back out.

"This hollow space needs to be covered with some material. If it doesn't get covered, then it could possibly collapse. "Helen said, eyes darting from one side of the hollow space to the other, mentally calculating how much material she needed.

"Then metal is the material we need."

"Exactly."

"Do we even have any?"

"No, but we I've heard there is metal, in a nearby cave."

"I'll go then." Sestiva declared.

Sestiva grabbed her staff, and rushed out, sprinting smoothly down the steep hill, made a sharp left turn into the mouth of a cave. She found the metal sitting in a corner, she grabbed it and ran back to the mouth of the cave, up the steep hill, and met Helen in the back of the potion room. Helen had to trim the metal down a little bit so the pieces would fit, slid them into place and put the potions back inside.

"It's almost dark outside, let's get some sleep." Helen said.

The sisters raced down the hill and back to their small building. Once the got there, they went straight to bed. Sestiva never really fell asleep. She just waited outside Helen's door to make sure she was asleep. Then, she silently opened the front door, like she did the other night and catapulted into the darkness.

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**Please review! Advice and/or criticism are greatly appreciated :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Vadima's return**

Sestiva's breathing was the only thing she heard for the past 5 minutes. Creeping around buildings, and wondering around skull island, thinking what to do if she wasn't going to steal potions.

_I could just sit on the docks at look at the moon. No, too boring. Helen said not to steal potions, but she'll let me take a couple more. I could climb on top of my small, wooden, building. No, too noisy, it would wake Helen up. My only option would be to go get some more potions from the Witchdoctors Sanctum._

The Witchdoctor took her time, enjoying the darkness, while fiddling with her spear shaped staff, with scratches engraved into the handle. The wind was whistling in her ear, and she began to make her way from the shops, to Avery's Court. Sestiva entered the Sanctum, grabbed some potions, and left, quickly making her way back to her home. She went inside grabbed some supplies, and went to her cave she used for training.

"Now, what should I do with all these?" Sestiva asked herself, scratching her head. "I think I'll make some more potions."

She rushed to the back, taking some of her potions, and coming back, excited for the results. The first one she did, resulted in an explosion, forcing Sestiva to take cover behind an old block of stone.

"What just happened?"

Sestiva peeked over the stone block, aware that it could possibly explode again. She waited a couple minutes, just in case something else happened. Nothing. She hopped over the stone and examined the potion carefully, there were golden sparks jumping around the bottle. She put a cork in the top, then put it in the back with all the other potions. She stretched out her arms and sighed.

_I wonder if Vadima will find out about her potions and what I've been doing._

A sudden wave of panic went through her head.

_If she does find out, what is she going to do to me? I could be severely punished! What am I going to do? Sestiva, think, think!_

The witchdoctor calmed down after a while.

_I should just go back home and go to sleep before Helen comes and finds me. I don't want her to find me asleep up here like this morning. I better start heading back now._

Sestiva raced home to her building, silently opened the door, and crawled into bed, having thoughts about Vadima's return. She also had several thoughts about what her punishment would be, and cringed at the thought of them.

That morning, Helen was waiting for Sestiva at the front of the door.

"I want you to tell me the truth." Helen said sternly, holding her sparquebus with both hands. "Where were you last night?"

"How did you know I wasn't there?" Sestiva asked, suspicious and surprised that Helen knew she wasn't there.

"Don't think I'm stupid Sestiva. I have very sharp hearing, and I heard you go out the front door. Don't think I wouldn't be more alert after what happened with the potions last night." Helen said, more angry this time and then shot a glare at the Witchdoctor.

"I only went to the docks." Sestiva said calmly, and placed her hands on her hips.

"Don't play dumb! The docks are south from here and heard your footsteps go west!" Helen yelled, getting ready to go into aiming position with her rifle.

"Ok. I admit that…I was up experimenting with…potions…again." Sestiva confessed, lowering her head.

Surprisingly, Helen lowered her rifle, and smiled. "I thought you might be doing that again. Probably the only reason why you ever go up there."

"…and your…happy? About this?"

Helen's smile faded in an instant, gaze hardening into an ice-cold glare. "Of course I'm not! You could have hurt yourself again! I wouldn't have liked to see the dead body of my sister because of some experimental accident!"

"Sorry."

Helen's gaze softened to just a simple stare. The stare quickly turned into worry.

"Rumor is going around that the teachers are coming back today. We're going to have show the potions to Vadima."

"There's no way I'm showing them to her today! I'll show them to her first thing tomorrow."

"If you don't show them to her today, she might notice the duplicate potions you left behind."

"Well, what if she doesn't?"

"If she finds out about the duplicate potions, today, and you show the potions you made to her tomorrow, the consequences may be a lot worse."

"They're _my_ potions! Which means I can show them to her whenever I want!"

"Unless you want the punishment to be worse, do what you want."

The witchdoctor finally gave in. "Fine. I'll show them to her today."

As if on cue, the dock creaked loudly. That was a sign that a ship was coming in. The two sisters ran down to the dock to see which ship it was. It was the ship all the teachers were on, judging by the traditional, fancy Skull Island pattern. The gangplank was thrown over the side, and the teachers stepped off the ship.

"Sestiva. Go get the potions." Helen whispered.

Sestiva quickly nodded and raced back up to her cave. She grabbed her leather bag that was sitting on the table in the middle of the room, and walked to the back. The faint glow of all the potions she had, helped her find the outline of the hollow space. She pushed the piece down and carefully placed each one in the bag. She took her time to get back to Helen on the docks. By the time she got back, they were unloading the gunpowder, and supplies.

"Where's Vadima?" Sestiva asked Helen.

"She's already on her way to the Witchdoctor's Sanctum. You better hurry." Helen responded.

The witchdoctor raced over to the Sanctum. Vadima was already there.

"Can I show you something?" Sestiva asked Vadima.

"Of course!" Vadima answered.

Sestiva emptied her bag on the nearest table placing the potions in a straight line.

"I made these potions while you were gone."

Vadima took her time to examine the potions carefully. Sestiva started to get nervous. She twiddled her thumbs until Vadima looked up at her.

"I've never seen these kinds of potions before!"

"Really?"

"Yes. I only have one question. What did you do with some of my potions?"

"What do you mean? I didn't take any of your potions!" Sestiva lied.

"Then who did?"

Sestiva's eyes wondered around the room nervously, she found out before Sestiva thought she would.

"I have no idea."

"Tell me the _truth_. Who took my potions?"

* * *

**Please review! Advice and ****criticism is greatly appreciated. :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Explanation**

"I honestly don't know who took your potions. The last time I came in here, the shelf was full and it still is. I don't understand how any of the potions could be missing?" Sestiva lied.

"Let me rephrase that." Vadima said, angrily. "Who took and or replaced my potions? Do you know?"

_Crap. She noticed. But they looked the exact same! How can she possible tell the difference between two potions of the same color?_

"Replaced? How could you tell they're replaced? I certainly can't. Otherwise I have no clue who did it."

"I remember the precise order they were put in when I left. This order is mixed up."

_I didn't realize she put them in a specific order. What should I do? I might as well confess, but I'll do that later._

"I don't know what you're talking about. I never saw anyone enter or exit the Sanctum. I was making sure no one stole your potions."

"Then it was you?"

"What do you mean? It wasn't me."

"If you were making sure no one went in or out, you most likely wanted no one to be around so you could steal and possibly replace the potions."

"Why would I steal your potions? I don't understand why you think it's me?"

"You keep denying it. That's why I think it's you. Don't lie to me Sestiva. I demand a straight answer. Was it you, or was it not?

"It was not me."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes. I'm positive it wasn't me." Sestiva stuttered.

"Let me ask you again. Was it you? These potions you made could not possibly be made from the potions you've earned from battles. The potions you made are far too advanced to be made from those potions."

_I never thought of how advanced Vadima's potions were. What would happen if I told her that I had a friend that's been to Mooshu, and gave some potions to me? There's no way I can admit it right here and now._

"I have a friend who gave me those potions from Mooshu. She said they were very rare."

"Those potions I had also came from Mooshu. Did your "friend" steal them?"

"No. I didn't either."

"Last time I heard you talk about your friends, you mentioned nothing about _this_ one. You _did_ steal them, didn't you."

"Ye-No. I didn't steal them. "

"You're hesitating. You stole them didn't you?"

Sestiva lowered her head in shame. "Y-y-yes."

"I see. Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't want to disappoint you."

"I need an explanation."

"Okay. Two nights ago I came down to the Sanctum with potions of my own. I traded mine for yours and ran off into a cave to experiment. The first one I created caused a small inferno and burnt my hands. The second one I made gave off light. The third one was would keep generating ice and the last one spouted smoke. I didn't think you would notice, but I thought I would show them to you anyway."

"I see. These are very nice potions, but don't think I'll forgive you for stealing my potions. I'll think of a punishment later. "

"I'll be okay with any punishment you give me."

"Don't _I'll be okay_ me. All the other witchdoctors over the past couple over years who have said that weren't okay with their punishment."

"Sorry."

"Sorry is not enough." Vadima scolded and slapped Sestiva across the face.

Sestiva just stared at Vadima in pure shock. She never knew that what she'd done was so severe. She never realized that she never thought through things through when she did things. It was silent for a while. The silence was broken by the sharp anger of Vadima's voice.

"Do you realize how what you've done was so severe? Someone could've easily come stolen those potions and used them for destruction on Skull Island. I know very well you wouldn't have done that, Sestiva, but it still could've been a possibility. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. I was just curious about the results. That's all."

"Curiosity? "

"Yes."

"It's good to have some curiosity, but don't let it take over your mind. There have been many pirates who have gone mad. You don't want to turn out like them."

Sestiva thought about it for a moment. She didn't want to let it consume her mind, but she wanted enough curiosity to discover new potions. Sestiva scratched her head in confusion. What was she supposed to do? Answer Vadima, or keep thinking?

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say. If there's more I need to know please tell me." Sestiva pleaded.

"Just understand that bad things can happen when your mind gets consumed by something."

"I understand."

"I thought of your punishment. You are to stay for extra training for a whole month."

"What?! But that puts me out of routine!"

"I don't care! What I say goes, so you have to be a little more flexible. I knew you wouldn't be fine with the punishment. Just like all the other pirates who said they would. Dismissed."

Sestiva turned around, head hung low, and walked up the steps to Avery's Court.

"Sestiva." Vadima called.

Sestiva quickly turned around. Vadima had a wide grin on her face.

"What is it?" Sestiva asked, scratching her head, confused.

"If you can prove to me that you won't let curiosity control your mind, and how you practice, then I will let you continue to make potions. Make sure it doesn't stop you from practicing completely either."

"Don't worry. I'll prove it to you. I won't let curiosity control my mind or my practice."

"Good. You can leave now."

Sestiva left the Sanctum and headed back to her small, wooden, building. Extra training still wouldn't change the fact that it was very slow. It was someone's fault. She could worry about that later. She had a month of extra training ahead of her. She was going to try to get in as much training as possible.

_I shouldn't worry about this now, but the fact that the training is slow has to be someone's fault._

* * *

**Please review! Advice is greatly appreciated! :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Blame**

Sestiva stretched as she got up that morning and got ready for training. She grabbed her staff and was about to head out the door when Helen stopped her.

"Where are you going?" Helen asked with a wide grin.

"Training. Why?" Sestiva replied and shot Helen a glare, growing suspicious. She got ready to cast  
Ghost Wail just in case Helen tried to do something to her.

"So we can leave together." Helen raised an eyebrow, carefully watching Sestiva's movements. She knew she was getting ready to cast a spell.

Sestiva lowered her staff a little bit, and her gaze softened. "Alright, let's go." She muttered, opening the door.

"What's wrong with you today?"

"Nothing's wrong with me today." Sestiva scoffed. "It's just my first day that I have to have extra training with Vadima."

Sestiva and Helen arrived at Avery's court. They split off in two separate directions, heading towards their classes.

"Good morning, Sestiva." Vadima greeted Sestiva with a smile.

"Good morning Vadima." Sestiva said.

Class began shortly after the Witchdoctor got there, the first thing they were doing was learning the spell Soulreaver.

"The first step to casting this spell is to be in a stance, like all the other spells." Vadima instructed. "The only difference to this spell is that instead of just waving your staff around, right before you cast it, you need to make sure the front ends of your staffs are touching the ground. Go ahead and try casting it a few times."

Sestiva waved her staff around, the magic circle appearing at her feet, and put the front end of her staff on the ground. The attack worked for a few seconds, and then faded. She tried again, and it worked, catching Vadima's attention.

"I didn't expect you to get it so quickly!" Vadima laughed.

"It was pretty easy. I was training a lot when you were gone." Sestiva explained, playing with her staff in one hand.

"I see."

Sestiva went back to practicing Soulreaver, attempting to make her attack stronger. Soon after, the class ended and Sestiva went to meet up with Helen at the life fountain like they always did.

"How was training?" Helen asked.

"Slow, like usual. The spell we learned was so easy, and yet half the people couldn't even get it right!" Sestiva said, annoyed.

"My training was slow too. Almost everyone didn't practice when the teachers were gone."

"Seriously? Barely anyone in my class remembered how to cast a Jobu's breath!"

"Come on. Let's go home."

"Remember, I have extra training."

Sestiva and Helen walked back to their small, wooden, building and Sestiva dropped some stuff off in her room. Then, she opened the door, and then went back for training.

"Hello again, Vadima." Sestiva said.

"let's get started." Vadima said. "Let's see how strong your Soulreaver is."

Sestiva cast Soulreaver, it wasn't that strong since she learned it that day. Vadima wasn't impressed.

"It's very weak. Try using your full power."

Sestiva cast Soulreaver again, using all her power this time. It was obvious this time that is was more powerful, creating a bright green light.

"How was that?" Sestiva asked.

"That was better. Always try using your full power to cast spells. You would want to vanquish your enemy as fast as you can before they attack. Also try to cast the spell faster. It will help quicken the battle." Vadima instructed, demonstrating with a Soulreaver of her own.

"Alright, I'll try that."

Sestiva cast another Soulreaver as quick as she could at full power, slamming her staff to the ground. It was fast and powerful, but she already used up most of her energy from that one attack.

"That was good. Just try to focus on the amount of energy you use. You don't want to use too much like you just did, or you'll get tired. Instead of using full power this time, try making it close to full power. You'll be tired, just not as much. Once your body gets used to the amount of energy used, you can increase the power."

"…But I thought you just said to use full power!"

"I did, but now I'm telling you not to. Now I'm telling you to get close to full power."

Sestiva did as she was told, and came close to full power, cast the spell, and turned to Vadima to see how she did.

"How did I do?" Sestiva asked curiously.

"That was good. You can go home now."

"Thanks!" Sestiva exclaimed, and rushed home, to relax before sprinting to her cave to work on the Soulreaver accuracy.

_Why doesn't training ever speed up? Is the speed this slow for a reason? _

Sestiva cast a Soulreaver, smashing a nearby rock to pieces. Using a reasonably large piece of rock to she drew a target to practice with and cast another Soulreaver.

_If the resistance speeds training up, then we would have lots of powerful pirates to take out the armada and solve the spiral's problems! The slow training could be the effect of things happening across the spiral, so the pirates aren't the ones at fault._

The witchdoctor cast Soulreaver again and again, getting faster and faster until she was worn out. She glanced over at the target, hoping the results were good. Not a single one hit the center of it. She was getting better. The spells accuracy was just not good enough yet. Sestiva retraced the target so it was easier to see. She cast Soulreaver again and again, until one finally hit the center. She stared at the target for a while, trying to calculate the damage done to the wall. A single thought started to play in her head over and over again.

_The pirates in training are not at fault. _

The realization hit her like the shock from one of Helen's guns.

_It couldn't have been our fault. It had to be the resistance itself. It's the resistance's fault for slow training. I can't believe they would do that! Trying to keep us from becoming great pirates is the last thing I thought they would do. I guess I was wrong about them. I wonder what life would be like without them though. They gave us food, water, and shelter. Besides that, they've done nothing but slow us down. Why would they prevent us from becoming great pirates? That I don't know, but I'm sure both Helen and I could go on our own without them._

Sestiva cast a full power Soulreaver in anger, and hit the center of the target. She rushed out of the cave, down the steep hill, and sprinted home to tell Helen.

"Helen! I have something really important to tell you!" Sestiva shouted angrily as she burst through the front door.

* * *

**Sorry for the late update guys! D: Please review! Advice and criticism are greatly appreciated. :D**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Leaving

"What do you have to tell me?" asked Helen, curious for what just happened.

"The resistance is slowing us down. It's their fault that we have slow training." Sestiva growled.

"What are you trying to say, Sestiva?"

"We need to leave Skull Island today."

"Can't we leave tomorrow?"

"No, we can't. We have to leave today."

"Where are we supposed to go? Once we're off this island, we've got nowhere to go."

"We build our own house somewhere in Valencia."

The two thought about it for a while, realizing they have no way of getting there. The only way to get to Valencia was by ship, but they didn't have one. If Sestiva said they had to leave today, then it must be very important. Neither Helen nor Sestiva knew how to build ships. Their only options were to either steal one, or get a raft from the dock master. They just needed a ship big enough to fit all their supplies.

"We have no way of getting to Valencia. If we did, we would have to steal, or get a raft." Helen said, worried they won't be able to get a ship in time.

"Then we'll see if it's possible for us to get one." Sestiva said.

Sestiva and Helen split up and tried to find people who didn't want their ships. However, this was the time when most pirates were in different skyways.

"Is anyone selling their ship?" Sestiva called, desperate for someone who was selling their ship.

She didn't receive and answer and found herself trying to find the dock master. On the way there, she found Helen next to the weapon shop. She told Helen that no one would sell their ship and they went to find the dock master together.

"Where is he?!" Helen said, frustrated.

"I don't know, but he usually is down my Blind Mew." Sestiva said.

When they got to the dock master, they asked for a small skiff. He asked them if it was their first ship. Helen knew how to sail. She just didn't have a ship yet.

"This is our first ship. We need something that can go undetected by enemy ships." Helen explained.

"Follow me." Said the dock master, leading them into a workshop where there were shelves upon shelves of bottled ships. He took a bottled ship off the bottom shelf, and showed it to Helen and Sestiva. "Is this good enough for your trip?"

"Sestiva, come look at this." Helen called.

Sestiva walked over to the dock master and examined the ship very carefully, thinking about how much supplies they would need and if it would be able to fit below decks. The ship was small, but perfect in terms of speed and strength.

"I think it's good. As long as it's fast, and powerful we'll be fine." Sestiva said. "How much do you want for it?"

"The ship will be 1000 gold." The dock master said, handing over the bottled ship.

Sestiva handed the gold to the dock master, took the bottle, and left. The two of them hurried home to start preparing all the things they needed for the trip. The first thing they did was pack their clothes, and soon after they both ran to the docks and unbottled the ship.

"Are you sure the ship's big enough, Helen?" Sestiva asked.

"I'm sure, Sestiva." Helen said.

"Then let's get this ship loaded."

Sestiva and Helen started loading the ship. They first loaded their belongings, and then they loaded in the supplies they could use to build a house in Valencia. They were ready to set sail.

"Lower the sails, Sestiva!" Helen ordered, and Sestiva immediately followed.

The wind caught the sails and they drifted forwards, heading towards a wind lane.

"How long until we get to Valencia?" asked Sestiva.

"I would say about three days." Said Helen.

"Why three days? I thought it would be just one."

"Because we have to travel to Monquista."

Sestiva went below decks and explored. She didn't know what to do with all this time. There was no training, no battles, nothing. She opened the door to her cabin. There was a small bed next to the window, a desk, and a wardrobe. That was it. Sestiva went back up to the main deck, where Helen was steering the ship.

"Is there a place where I can practice?" Sestiva whined.

"Do it up here so you don't destroy anything okay?"

"Okay."

Helen and Sestiva both went down to their cabins and unpacked. Sestiva suddenly realized she forgot something. She forgot her potions and potion racks in the cave she trained in. She could do without them, but she knew exactly how to make them. Those potions were necessary for her to make powerful potions.

_I wonder where we are. We still haven't reached the Monquista storm gate. There's nothing to do but practice. This is boring. If only I had something else to do. I don't want to destroy the ship by making potions. I could go up to the main deck and just watch the ship move. Better do that than nothing. _

Sestiva sighed. Sailing wasn't as fun as she thought it was. Usually the stories about sailing were fun, action filled, and thrilling, but not this. They weren't battling or anything. They were just traveling, nothing but traveling.

Sestiva made her way to the main deck, and then she found an open spot for her to practice. Just about when she was about to cast a spell, the ship jolted.

"What's going on up there?!" screeched Helen.

"I have no idea. I was just trying to practice my spells!" Sestiva yelled back.

Oblivious to the fact that they were being attacked, Helen rushed to the wheel and spun it in the opposite direction.

"Helen, there's a ship following us!" Sestiva screamed.

"Sestiva, go down below decks and load all the cannons. I'll try to stall before they start using all their power on our ship."

"Alright. I'll load them as quickly as possible. Then I'll fire them all."

"Be careful. This is our first nautical battle, we need to figure out what to do."

Sestiva went below deck to ready the cannons.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: First Nautical Battle**

Sestiva raced below decks, and ran to the nearest cannon. She took down the reloading equipment, and dropped them next to the cannon, landing with a loud thud. She pulled the cannon in, and began the reloading process. She put in the gunpowder in and used one of the tools to push it to the back. She picked up the cannonball. It was much heavier than she thought, and Sestiva struggled to shove into the cannon. She used a pole to push it to the back and pushed the cannon back into place.

"Time to fire." Sestiva said to herself, grinning.

Sestiva used the metal side of the cannon to light one of the matches she was carrying with her, and lit the fuse. Sestiva had already begun loading the second cannon. The first canon she loaded went off. The explosion shook the ship violently, knocking Sestiva to the floor. The cannon jerked back in recoil, making Sestiva roll to the side to prevent it from crashing into her.

"Sestiva, I've changed my mind! We're boarding them! Get up here!" Helen yelled over the cannon fire.

Sestiva ran up to the main deck, grabbing the gangplanks on the way up. Helen spun the wheel to the left, trying to get close to the ship without ramming into it. Sestiva threw the gangplanks over to the other side. She ran back to the mast to retrieve her staff that was leaning against it. She ran back and across the gangplanks while the Monquistans scrambled back and forth on their deck.

"You ready, Helen?" Sestiva yelled.

"Yeah, I'm ready!" Helen yelled back, drawing her rifle that was slung across her back.

The two of them ran across the gangplanks and began attacking. Sestiva already had a magic circle activating around her feet. She slammed the end of the staff on the wooden deck. She directed Soulreaver to the monquistador closest to her. She kicked the monquistador overboard and watched it fall endlessly. When she turned back around, a monquistador charged at her with a spear. She blocked it. The monquistan flung his spear to the side, taking her staff with it. It landed on her ship, but was next to the door that went below deck. Another monquistan appeared behind her, getting ready to stab her in the back. A sudden gunshot filled the air and the monquistan fell to the ground.

"Thanks, Helen!" Sestiva said.

Sestiva ran back to her ship and picked up her staff. Helen was busy shooting the last few monquistans. Sestiva cast one last Soulreaver, defeating the last monquistan. Sestiva and Helen went below decks to find the gold on the monquistan ship.

"Woah!" Helen said, shocked. "That's a lot of gold!"

"Do you think we can even get this all back on our ship?!" Sestiva asked.

"I'm pretty sure we can. It would just take hours to transfer it all."

Sestiva grabbed a handful and ran back to their ship. She stored it in a trunk below decks. She was about to go up to get some more gold when a loud thud made both ships sway. Helen came down with two buckets that were filled with gold.

"What just happened?" Sestiva asked.

"We reached the stormgate to Monquista. It won't be long until the blockade will let us pass through." Helen responded.

"There's a blockade?"

"Yeah, we need to get all the gold before then."

Sestiva and Helen loaded up the gold as quickly as possible. Another shake jolted the ship as they brought the last few bits onto their ship. The witchdoctor went back up and removed the gangplanks. She stored them away in an empty cabin and fired cannon into the Monquistan ship. The Monquistan ship drifted away and soon went crashing down. Sestiva peeked out of the cannons window and watched the now destroyed ship sink farther and farther down until it was out of sight.

"What do we need all this gold for anyway?" Sestiva asked.

"We can melt it to make weapons." Helen answered with a bored look.

The two of them went back up to the main deck waiting to be let through the stormgate. An hour passed after they transferred all the gold. They were finally let through.

"Sestiva! Get below deck and hold on to something!" Helen ordered pulling the ship into a dive. The stormgate was closer now and she could see where she had to enter. She pulled the ship into a steeper dive. The entrance was getting closer and Helen was forced to let go of the wheel, letting the power of the stormgate guide them into the space in between worlds.

It was a lot calmer on the other side of the stormgate. The only things that were there was two windlanes, ship debris, whatever thrived and lived in the middle of the windlanes, and infinite space in every direction. Helen could see the opening of the vortex on the other side. She let the windlane take control of the ship and went below deck to find Sestiva. She found her staring out one of the canon slots into the open space.

"It's really nice out here. No ships will come out here to attack and it's easier to move around." Sestiva said looking at the creatures that lingered in the middle.

"Yeah. It is nice out here. Too bad that niceness will be going away soon, we'll arrive in Monquista soon." Helen said.

Helen ran back up to start steering the ship again. The stormgate was getting close. She guided the ship into the stormgate and waited for the ship to emerge from the other side. They have arrived in Monquista. They still had a while to go until they reached Valencia. It would take another day or two. Helen guided the ship into a windlane and they continued to let the windlane guide them. Sestiva came up from below decks.

"So we've arrived in Monquista." Sestiva said. "I wonder if we will be able to visit a few cities."

"No, we will not." Helen growled.

"Why not?"

"We're heading straight to Valencia."

"I wonder what's in Valencia." Sestiva muttered to herself and went to her cabin.

* * *

**Yay! Finally out of single didgits! Please review! Advice and criticism are greatly appreciated. :D**

**-TheSamSam **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Arrival**

Sestiva and Helen sailed calmly through Monquista. The stormgate was extremely far away and it would take most of the day to get there. There were ships swarming the cities and there was no way they could get to one without being attacked.

"I wonder what's in Valencia." Sestiva muttered again.

"Nothing but the armada, a few cities, and a giant fortress in the very center of it." Helen said.

"Are you sure that's it? What about an inhabited island you were talking about when you made the plan."

"I don't know. There are many small islands. We just need to find one small enough for the armada not to see us."

"How much longer until we arrive in Valencia? This is starting to get boring."

"It will take most of the day. You can be training if you're bored, you know."

Sestiva went to her cabin to get her staff. It was messier then when she last went down there. The battle must have caused it to be shaken around. She grabbed her staff and slowly made her way to the main deck. The sudden brightness blinded her, making her shield her eyes. Sestiva looked back to the dark and dusty stairs that went below. The only source of light down there was in the cabins. She made sure she was away from the mast so she wouldn't accidentally destroy it.

Helen looked at Sestiva from behind the wheel, holding a pistol in one hand. Helen was going to test Sestiva's reflexes without her knowing. She pulled the brass trigger ever so slowly so it wouldn't make noise.

_BANG!_

Sestiva threw herself towards the side, landing on her left arm. She searched for the scorch mark, alert this time. She found it a couple feet away. If this was a real battle, she'd be dead by now. The gun shots would have been much quicker. She needed to land on her feet if she did that again.

_BANG!_

Sestiva rolled to the side and pushed herself up from the wooden floor. As quickly as she could, she moved behind the mast so Helen couldn't see where she was. She already had a spell at the ready, magic circle around her feet. Guns were much easier to launch multiple attacks within seconds. Spells were much slower. She looked at Helen from behind the mast. Her hand was off the pistol that was now in her belt. She was now occupied by steering. Sestiva slowly lowed the end of her staff to the ground, not making any noise at all. She stepped out from behind the mast. She cast the spell at Helen at full speed. Helen ducked, the spell skimming Helen's dark blue shirt. Helen as quickly as possible, pulled out her pistol from her leather belt and shot three rounds in Sestiva's direction. Each shot landed closer to Sestiva's feet as she ran as far as she could away from Helen. Helen had less accuracy at this distance.

_BANG!_

The shot skimmed Sestiva's ear, making it burn from the energy. She looked over the side of the ship. The bright pink windlane sped under them. She could see the stormgate in the distance, but they still had a while to go. She looked at her staff. She could see the scratches and splinters that covered it. Her staff had a risk of breaking. She remembered that Vadima had told her that when you make a weapon of your own, you had to make sure you transferred the magic properties to the new staff.

The ship jerked forward, heading into a dive to get through the stormgate. Sestiva didn't know it was really that close.

_Maybe I looked at the wrong stormgate._

Sestiva held tightly onto the mast, she finally understood why they were going to Valencia, and not someplace else. To destroy the armada.

Sestiva felt the violent rush of the wind die down, the ship back to the way it was. They were once again in the space between worlds. The peace only lasted a few minutes before disappearing into yet another stormgate. The wind rushed past and they broke out of a red stormgate. On this side was a strange world.

The whole sky and everything below was red. There were random obsidian chunks floating around, and there were swarms upon swarms of Bone Drakes. They had to be careful here. It would be easy to start a battle with one while making their way to the stormgate in Valencia. Helen had a map of the skyway, dotted pink lines representing the windlanes. It was a very small world. The only thing it seemed to have was stormgates. One being the one to Monquista, and the other being the one to Valencia.

They went into the stormgate to Valencia. They once again went through the peaceful space and came out a green stormgate in Valencia. They made it. They were in Valencia.

"Where do we go now?" Sestiva said, walking up the stairs to where Helen was.

"I don't know. Look for a small island that we can live on." Helen said.

Sestiva looked in all directions. There was a giant fortress in the middle.

_We would easily get caught over there. To the left there is a really small island, but that area is surrounded by the armada. _

Sestiva took Helen's map of Valencia and looked to the left. There was a small island. It wasn't on the map. That was the perfect place to live. An undetected island that the armada wouldn't notice. She found it.

"Helen, I found it. The perfect island that the armada doesn't notice! "Sestiva exclaimed. " It's over to the left."

Helen steered the ship to the left, towards the island that Sestiva told her about.

"Sestiva, drop the anchor!" Helen ordered.

Sestiva walked below deck, to where the cannons were. Towards the front, were two anchors. She released the weights on the rope which held the anchor up. The ship stopped and Sestiva ran up to the deck to see the island. It was perfect.

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**Please review! :D Second chapter in the double digits, yay! Advice and critisism are greatly appreciated. Positive comments are greatly appreciated too. :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Settling**

Helen tried as hard as she could to get the ship as close as possible to the island without crashing. The wind blew the opposite way Helen spun the wheel, making steering the ship twice as hard. Despite all her effort, she struggled to steer the ship towards the island, close enough where Sestiva could drop the anchor and set down the gangplanks. At this point, the gangplanks would be able to get only inches away from the land. It could possible take hours, if the wind changed direction, then she would be able to get on land much faster. Helen spun the wheel to the right. They were close enough. Closer than she thought they were.

"Drop the anchor, Sestiva!" commanded Helen, causing Sestiva to jump, running below deck to release the weights on the anchors.

Sestiva tiredly ran down below decks, taking a sharp left to avoid the storage space. Her route was much faster than Helen's route. It took Helen a minute longer to go through the storage area than to go around. After a while of running, Sestiva made it to the gun deck, she rushed over to the two anchors. She grabbed the weights simultaneously and pulled them toward her body. If she dropped one anchor too early, the ship will tilt to one side and capsize, which will make it fall to where ever all the other ships go. The ship jerked to a stop. The witchdoctor grabbed the gangplanks on the way up the stairs. She couldn't wait to explore the new land.

The gangplanks were down and Sestiva jumped, landing on her feet in the grass.

"Helen, come on! We need to explore this place!" Sestiva yelled, excited for the exploration of the island.

"I'm coming, Sestiva. Just be patient." Helen said in a bored tone.

"Hurry up!"

"I said I'm coming."

Helen stepped onto the grass and looked around. She eyed the forest to the left and the small lake to the right. Where should they explore first? Sestiva already went to the left, and Helen followed closely behind, on the lookout for potential enemies.

There was nothing but trees, the occasional spider web, and open land, the perfect place to build a house. The terrain was rocky, but good enough for them.

"Helen! Look over here!" Sestiva called.

"What is it?" Helen responded.

"It's a whole cave with nothing in it!"

"Good. Now we can train without being spotted."

"What do you mean, not being spotted? It's not like the armada's going to see us. We're just tiny specks on an island that won't be able to be seen. Isn't this island undetected?"

"I wouldn't risk it. The armada is swarming here. There is a chance that the armada could find us if they see the light from your spells."

"I see. This cave could also hold my potions. I don't want to burn down the house because one of them exploded. "

"We're basically training in secret. If the armada finds out we're here, we're dead."

"Couldn't we just defend ourselves?"

"No. They are way too powerful for us to handle. We need more power from our weapons. We might need to make new ones, depending on their condition. We need to start preparing to build our house."

Sestiva looked around for a sharp object to start cutting down trees. Helen took the rifle that was slung across her back and attached the bayonet that she carried around. She swung at the tree, chipping the bark. This would take some time, but until they could make an axe, they had to stick with the way they were currently doing it.

Sestiva found a large branch on the ground along with some stone. The stone was slanted with a sharp tip. She picked up the stone and slammed the sharp edge into the tree closest to her. It made a small cut into the tree. After about 20 swings, the tree fell over and the witchdoctor called the musketeer over to help carry the fallen tree out into the open field for their house. Helen brought a small tree with her putting it in the soon to be pile of trees in the middle of the field.

After a large pile of trees were made in the middle Helen took the bayonet of her rifle and started scraping off the bark on the trees, while Sestiva unloaded some of the things they had brought with them on the trip. Sestiva unloaded some of the wooden planks that they brought with them. She also unloaded some stone and metal parts, glass, and the gold that they had taken from the Monquistan ship.

"Do you have a hammer?" Sestiva asked.

"Don't get started on the house just yet. We still have to turn all these trees into planks that we can use. Can you get some more trees for us to use so that we can build a small house?"

"Sure. I'll go get some. How long will it take for you to take off all the bark on those trees?"

"I don't know, but it will take a while. Now go get some more trees."

Sestiva walked into the forest to get some more trees. She was anxious to practice her spells. She stepped into the cave. It was surprisingly not dark, and had a lot of space, just like her old cave. On the other side of the cave there was what looked like a tunnel. Sestiva walked through it and found herself in a slightly smaller room, enough space for tons and tons of potions. It was exactly like her old cave.

Sestiva walked out and searched for a sharp rock. Most of them were sharp, but they were too big and too heavy. She found the one that she used earlier. She picked it up and cut the tree down with the sharp side. Sestiva cut down a couple more trees and brought them back to Helen, who was busy taking off the last bits of bark from the last couple of trees.

"Are we ready to start building the house yet?" Sestiva asked.

"We have enough trees to start." Helen replied.

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**Please review! I haven't been getting any lately and I need advice. D: Criticism is greatly appreciated. :D**

**-TheSamSam **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The build**

"Ready to start building whenever you are, Sestiva!" Helen called.

"Coming. I will be there in a minute." Sestiva called.

Sestiva looked back at the direction she was facing before Helen called her. She looked back into the cave she came out of earlier. There was more than enough space to practice and more than enough space to put potions. She walked over to where Helen was standing. Helen already had a long wooden beam in her hands. She had a large wooden crate of nails next to her, and there was a hammer lying at her feet.

"You can use the hammer to hammer the nails in place. I'll handle the wood." Helen ordered.

"Why can't I place wood too?" Sestiva asked.

"Because if you don't hammer the nails in place, the whole structure will fall apart and then we will have to start from scratch again. It will be lots of time wasted. In that time where we have to rebuild the entire structure we could be bringing the destruction of the armada."

"Fine. I'll do the nails and the hammer them in. This is going to be boring." Sestiva dropped her hands to her sides and picked up the heavy hammer, and dug the back end into the ground. She pulled it along in a line, soon making a square and put the hammer down. "Here's the outline of the house. Place some of the wood along the lines and we fill in the rest of the space."

"If you say so. I did forget to make a plan on what the house should look like, so go ahead."

Sestiva covered the ground with in the lines with wooden planks and hammered them into the ground with nails. She got several more pieces ready before attempting to build the rest of the outlines. Sestiva was much too weak to do it all on her own. Plus, she couldn't balance as well as Helen could. Since Helen was very close to becoming a sharpshooter, she had to be able to stand on the tiniest ledges. She could go practice her spells while Helen does the rest of the work.

"I won't be able to balance when we do the roof. I'll go practice my spells while you go and build the rest of the house." Sestiva said, walking off to the cave.

Helen turned around and just shrugged. Just being boring, like she always was. She placed a wooden board vertically, and hammered it into place. Helen stepped back to see if it will fall so she could add another nail.

Sestiva made her way down to the cave. The only main differences were that it was bigger and there were no vines covering the entrance. They didn't have a home either now, so that had to sleep on the bobbing ship every night. The ship was also quite far away from the field where they were building their house. It was a 20 minute walk, but from here it was only five. They could very well sleep in here, although it would take twice as long to get all their belongings to the cave. Of course, she would have to light up the cave with some form of light. It was dark enough that she couldn't even see five feet in front of her.

Sestiva found a good open spot to practice her spells. She waved her staff as the magic circle appeared, casting Ghostwail as a weak enough attack to let her see a little bit more. The light of the spell lingered for a few seconds, and then died down. She quickly found her way around the cave memorizing the area as she went in circles to make sure there was nothing she would be able to crash into.

Sestiva cast a Soulreaver, aiming towards an uneven spot on the wall. It stuck out like a spike sticking out of a door. When she cast Ghostwail the other time, the spike like spot on the wall was very obvious. If she ran into that, then she could majorly hurt herself. The only way to take it down was to attack it. Anything else she had was too weak for the job. The attack landed on the spike. She could hear the spike crack a little bit. She stepped closer to observe the damage done to the spike. There was a long crack that went straight down the middle. Less damage than she expected. She stepped back to where she was before and cast Soulreaver again.

_THUD!_

She could hear the spike fall to the ground, sending a cloud of dust into the air. She covered her eyes until the dust went away. The spike had fallen clean off and in its place was a ragged piece of wall. The witchdoctor eyed some wooden beams and wooden planks of to the side, leaning against the entrance to the tunnel. She could use all that for potions racks. That was exactly what she was going to do. She grabbed the wooden beams and the planks, and dragged them behind her to the slightly smaller room on the other side. She made a mental note to herself that she was no longer on Skull Island and she doesn't have to make a hidden area for more advanced potions.

Sestiva nailed the boards to the beams and kept going until she had three racks. She pushed the shelves against a wall, and headed back to the main room. She used a big chunk of stone off to the side as a place she could take cover behind just in case one of her potions exploded like it did on Skull Island. Sestiva ran back to the ship. She needed a table to put all her ingredients on. She found a table in an unused cabin and ran back to the cave, placing the table behind the chunk of stone so all her supplies won't burn up and explode too. The only thing missing now was the vines in front of the cave. There was a tree growing outside. It had extremely long vines that she could cut off. She took a sharp stone and cut off long sections of vines until she was certain that it would cover the entire entrance.

Sestiva found a bunch of fallen branches and skewered them into the ground, right over the cave's entrance. The witchdoctor tied the vines around the branch that stretched over the top. It was perfect now. All she had to do now was to check on Helen. She started her walk back to the field. The cave made her feel right at home. She missed Skull Island, but she liked it here better. Nothing restricted her from doing anything.

The skeleton of the house was completely finished. Helen was standing at a distance, admiring her work. Sestiva never thought Helen could finish this quickly. Sestiva forgot how long she was in the cave. She was in there for several hours. Sestiva could tell that the house was sturdy based on the shape. It would be done soon.

"What do you want to do next?" asked Helen, eager for something to do.

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**Please review! Advice and criticism are highly appreciated! :D**

**-TheSamSam**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Finishing Touches**

Helen nailed the last board in place as she stepped back to look at the newly built house. She knew for a fact it was better than the old one. The wood was newer and didn't have mold, moss, and vines growing on it. The house was much bigger and now they aren't as limited to how many rooms they could have. In their old house, they were forced to combine rooms and share rooms. Sestiva and Helen were coming close to sharing rooms. If they shared rooms then Helen would've known for sure that Sestiva snuck off in the middle of the night.

Sestiva sighed as she took a look on the other side of the house. It looked very impressive for the first house they built. She was she could see Cadiz emerge from behind the house at her angle. She had heard that most pirates who have gone in Cadiz have never returned. It gave her a general idea of how strong the armada actually is. The first thing Sestiva thought about the armada was that they were programmed to obey orders. She had forgotten that they were programmed to kill as well.

"Hey, Helen! I have something to show you! It's much improved from the last one, but we can live there until we finish the interior!" Sestiva exclaimed, excitedly while running over to Helen on the other side of the house.

"What do you mean? Improved from the last one? You're confusing me. What are you even talking about. " Helen asked, confused at what just happened.

"You know, the cave I would make all my potions in? The cave you and I would trained in when Vadima was in Mooshu helping with the crisis. That cave."

"Are you sure it's big enough for us to live there?"

"I wouldn't be saying it if it wasn't big enough. I went down there myself. The area where I would put my potions is really big. If it was to be compared to the potions room on Skull Island, this one would be five times as big! We could literally live here!"

"If you could stop talking already, I would have been able to see it already. Show it to me."

"Right this way." Sestiva directed, pushing aside the vines to let Helen in. "Careful, it's really steep here."

Helen carefully made her way down the steep steps. It was dark, so Helen put her hands on the walls on either side of her to prevent herself from falling. She could feel the rough edges on the wall as she got closer to the bottom of the stairs. Sestiva must have blasted out the bottom piece when she came down there. It got rougher and jagged. Once she reached the bottom, she struck a match from her pocket and held it high above her head to get the most light. The first thing she saw was the chunk of stone and the table behind it. There were already ingredients for potions on it.

_How could have Sestiva done this in such a short amount of time? She must have been working down here in the cave while I was working back at the house. I better go check out the back. Sestiva must have done something with it. She said she made it look like the old one. She must have done something to the back too. I can never doubt her. She does what she says she'll do._

Helen ran down the long tunnel hands on both walls. When her hands felt empty darkness, she knew that she had reached the end of the tunnel and was in the part of the cave that Sestiva had been talking about. She lit another match and held it above her head. She could see rows upon rows of potion shelves lining the walls. The shelves were tall and cast long shadows, making Helen feel small as they loomed over her head. She continued to venture straight ahead until the rows of potion shelves ended. The last shelf was right in front of her, standing in her way. There was lots of room left, but half of the cave was taken up by the potion shelves.

"Hey, Sestiva. How come you left half of the cave empty instead of using all the room to put your potion shelves?" Helen asked.

"I wanted you to use the other half to store all the guns that you're not using." Sestiva said. "If I didn't give you the other half where would all of your guns be stored? Out in the open?"

"No. It would have stayed on the ship anyways. Let's get all our belongings from the ship and move it here, but on the other side of the tunnel."

Sestiva and Helen came out of the cave and walked back to the ship. It was getting dark, and the small skiff was a while away. The two of them walked at a fast pace, trying to get to the skiff as fast as they could to make it there before dark. They loaded their beds and their belongings off the ship. To prevent coming back a second time, they piled their belongings on top of the beds. It took longer to get back to the cave with all of the weight, but they still made it before dark. Sestiva and Helen took their beds and belongings to the corner back behind the chunk of stone. They set down the rest of their things, and Helen went back to get some of her guns while Sestiva started practicing.

Sestiva cast a Ghostwail, it was stronger than before as far as she could tell. She hasn't really been training ever since she left Skull Island. It lit up the room and cast a bright green glow all around the cave. Just like on Skull Island, she took a stone and scratched and carved a target in the wall. Her accuracy was going to be a little off. She cast Soulreaver, and it hit the target. When she got a closer look at it, it was slightly off the center. She backed up and did Soulreaver again, this time it hit the center, leaving a scorch mark. Helen came down holding a wooden crate in front of her, containing a little bit more than half her guns.

"Practice going well?" Helen asked. "You have a pretty powerful Soulreaver."

"Thanks. It's going pretty well." Sestiva said. "Want to join me?"

"Sure, let me put these away first." Helen said, walking through the tunnel to put away the guns in the crate.

When Helen came back from the other side, her rifle was already in her hands and she had two pistols in her belt that were loaded. She stood by Sestiva and waited for her to say what she wanted to do.

Sestiva drew several more targets next to the first one. It seemed like she wanted Helen to shoot multiple times and try to hit the center every single time.

"Can you hit the center of all the targets?" Sestiva asked.

"Sure, not a problem." Helen said as she shot several times, hitting the center of all the targets. "How about we test our strength against each other for the upcoming battles against the armada?"

"Alright, let's do it!"

They split and went opposite directions, going to either side of the cave. The two of them got into their battle stance, ready to fight. Helen started the attacks, shooting at Sestiva's right arm. Sestiva was quick to notice and dodged the attack, throwing herself to the side. She quickly got up and waved her staff around as fast as she could and slammed it to the ground as the was running, casting Soulreaver. It took a fourth of her health away. Helen slung her rifle across her back and pulled out both pistols and started shooting rapidly, hitting Sestiva several times, taking away half of her health. Sestiva cast another Soulreaver, using full power. Helen was fast and almost dodged it, but she wasn't fast enough. The spell had a direct hit, draining most of her health, leaving her with an eighth of health left. Sestiva cast Ghostwail at full power this time, finishing Helen off. Helen collapsed to the floor, but drank a potion to restore it all.

"You clearly are the more powerful one, Sestiva." Helen said. "Once we learn the more advanced techniques, we will be able to face the armada."

"I'd say we're equally powerful, you just didn't get that many chances to attack me." Sestiva said. "I think I'm going to go make potions now."

"Just be careful. You remember what happened last time right?"

"Yes, I remember. I'll be more careful."

Helen watched Sestiva get a glass flask from the table. As she poured the ingredients in, she noticed that there were different chemical reactions for each ingredient. Helen walked out of the cave, looking back at Sestiva who was still making potions. What kind of crazy potion will she make this time?

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**Please review! This is my longest chapter to far so enjoy! Advice and criticism are greatly appreciated.**

**Thanks!**

**-TheSamSam**


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